The latest State of the Video Industry report – published jointly by IAB and Adapt.tv – shows not only how fast the online video industry is growing, but also, very importantly, how quickly it is maturing.
Advertisers are becoming far more discerning, using data and analytics to drive their buying decisions, not just in digital, but also across their marketing mix inclusive of television. Impressions count, but quality and advanced tactics are more important.
That’s why some publishers are doing well and others are losing out. Two-thirds have seen yields increase by 25 percent over the last year, but most of the remainder have actually seen their CPMs fall. You know something is amiss when you find yourself going backwards in a market that is driving forward so quickly.
That’s why programmatic trading is so important. Technology is imperative when buyers base their decisions on a myriad of data sources, from third-party demographics through to tracking of online behaviour. The report showed that 86 percent of agencies are using data to help determine buying decisions, indicating a distinct need for platforms that can integrate this intelligence with effective tools for scheduling, placement and tracking.
Publishers, it seems, have mixed feeling about the rise of programmatic technology, but they are quickly realising it’s a force of good rather than evil. Many have expressed concerns that programmatic could potentially commoditise their inventory, but they also recognised that the increased exposure to buyers was the counterbalance.
The real difference, though, is that enabling the integration of information facilitates the exact opposite of commoditisation: smart, data-driven planning is targeting specific audiences, for which publishers can attract premium prices.
Publishers who can’t integrate with data and inventory management platforms and surface those audiences within their content risk being left out in the cold – they’ll certainly miss out on higher yield business.
Spend half an hour looking through the full State of the Video Industry report and you’ll see how much technology adoption is being driven by savvy publishers. Most online video sales between the publisher and the agency are facilitated through private marketplace deals. Half of all publishers surveyed now sell through one, with half of the remainder aiming to implement one in the next 12 months, so buyers can make more considered decisions based on a rich information set.
Which is to say: the demands from smart advertisers are best met with smart technology.
Mitch Waters is Managing Director at Adap.tv, Australia.
